American Pie Star's Biggest Regret? Turning Down the HIMYM Part That Could Have Gotten Him Millions

We all sometimes make decisions that we later regret. Popular actors are no exceptions, and it's especially hard to make the right choice when acting offers come pouring in. And when it comes to choosing projects to participate in, no one can really predict which one will be a hit and which one will flop.

Jason Biggs, one of the leading faces of teen comedy in the 2000s, can absolutely relate to that. Once upon a time, the American Pie star was offered a role that would forever change both his life and our perception of pop culture. Biggs could have played… Ted Mosby!

When the actor was asked about the greatest regret of his life, Biggs did not miss a beat and immediately recalled the moment the producers of How I Met Your Mother offered him a lead role, which he refused.

'I was offered the role and it's probably my biggest regret, you know, on passing,' the actor said. Even though he really liked the script, Biggs was famous at that time, so he had the privilege of doubt.

'I think I was in a phase of, at the time — it sounds so obnoxious to say right now — but at the time it was like, "Okay, do I want to do TV?" I don't know that I was quite ready to go that route,' the actor continued. While he already had television experience at the time, TV series were not as highly regarded as big screen projects back in the mid-2000s.

Sadly, Jason failed to see the potential in HIMYM, which turned out to be an award-winning pop culture phenomenon. Only after the show was released and became so immensely popular, the actor realized that was a huge missed opportunity for him.

However, he also had his moments of success in the 2010s — for example, starring in comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black, which ran between 2013 and 2019 and reignited the audience's interest in the actor. In 2022, Biggs appeared in two episodes of Law & Order: SVU as Detective Andy Parlato-Goldstein.

While there's no doubt that Josh Radnor was ultimately the perfect Ted Mosby, there is actually one more reason why Biggs' refusal to take the part was a good thing after all. Considering that his main co-star in American Pie was Alyson Hannigan, who played Lily on HIMYM, fans would probably have wrong associations for their characters in the new series, and that would most likely damage that unique HIMYM vibe.

Source: SiriusXM.